Air cooled Volkswagen appreciation thread
- Thread starter leesonic
- Start date
When I was younger I had a. Rail buggy with a champion frame the parts bug had completely rusted in half ! 1600 dualport with 88 mm jugs and positions Weber progressive 2brl carb dual header exhaust h e I ignition with Hal effect distributor kit, rear disc brake kit IRS rear suspension ,titled off the vw vin with the tag rivited on the frame blast to drive road or off road ! Top speed 62 mph but felt like a 100 mph could go up hills to steep to walk up or down ! burned up in a barn fire 12 yrs ago still bummed about it !
Pio1980
AK Member
Have to wonder about Tatra (Hans Ledwinka) influence.
I need to catch up with my friend Dwight- he had a "resto mod" (before they were called that, actually) Karmann Ghia with a very healthy 2300cc engine in it. Biggest bore he could get, with a billet aluminum block. Probably close to 225HP at nearly 8000RPM, IIRC. In an 1800lb car. Basically, the same power to weight ratio as a 400HP Corvette.
Looked like a fairly stock Ghia- until he just LIT UP the rear tires. Think he was in the high 11s in the quarter mile, too.
He had to move the center of gravity forward, by relocating all sorts of accessory items to the trunk in the front- to tame it down a bit, so that it wouldn't just try to lift the front end off the ground... it would get pretty squirrelly, as it unloaded the front end on acceleration, before he did that...
My sister bought a brand new orange '72 Beetle and took it from Wilmington, DE to Boston for 4 years, then to Milwaukee for 4 more years then to Chapel Hill, NC, where I bought it from her in the mid-80's. Drove it for about 5 years, then sold it to move to the West Coast. After we got here, we bought a baby blue '76 Super Beetle and drove it for only about 3 years, before it started to fall apart. Our mechanic wanted to put a new German engine in it, but all he could find were Mexican ones. I finally sold it to him when a deal on a '94 Toyota pickup came along. Lotsa good memories getting around in that ol' '72 war horse. Courted my now wife in it, despite the Army blanket in the passenger seat for those cold mid-Atlantic winter days.
MuseChaser
Super Member
I used to ride in the "boot" of the family Beetle (late 50's/earl 60s model...don't know for sure)as a toddler, and I remember it being kind of scratchy... like covered in burlap or something.
The back of grandpa’s Ghia had that scratchy carpet too. In summer it would be 400* back there and no ventilation from the pop-out quarter windows unless you were moving. Yet still good memories.
I had a 64 12V (Canadian delivery) twin cab with a slightly warmed over 1600. I took my honeymoon in it (1972), White Mountains and Marthas Vineyard.
I decambered it, put on Konis and 14" bus rims with nice big 195/60 radials.
I drove it like a Porsche and I worked it like a Mack! An amazing vehicle and I wish I kept it!
Folks don't realized that the bus was a commercial vehicle; it was built like a brick ****-house and stood up well to incredible over-use!
Later I met a guy at our dump with a 68 single cab rot-box. I told him whenever he was ready, I'd take it off his hands. He did! We called it the Great White Hope.
You always hoped it would make it (it did). It had plywood sides added as high as the cab. One Saturday morning I went to the sandpit about a mile away. He asked how much I wanted because he was closing in ten minutes. I told him get as much on as he could. I saw an astonished face of my son who was feeling on the seat, in the little rear window as the masonry sand covered it!
Driving home, the drivers door kept popping open and the throttle wouldn't close. I kept it in 1st gear; if a dry rotted 15" tire popped, I wanted a very slow roll!
I decambered it, put on Konis and 14" bus rims with nice big 195/60 radials.
I drove it like a Porsche and I worked it like a Mack! An amazing vehicle and I wish I kept it!
Folks don't realized that the bus was a commercial vehicle; it was built like a brick ****-house and stood up well to incredible over-use!
Later I met a guy at our dump with a 68 single cab rot-box. I told him whenever he was ready, I'd take it off his hands. He did! We called it the Great White Hope.
You always hoped it would make it (it did). It had plywood sides added as high as the cab. One Saturday morning I went to the sandpit about a mile away. He asked how much I wanted because he was closing in ten minutes. I told him get as much on as he could. I saw an astonished face of my son who was feeling on the seat, in the little rear window as the masonry sand covered it!
Driving home, the drivers door kept popping open and the throttle wouldn't close. I kept it in 1st gear; if a dry rotted 15" tire popped, I wanted a very slow roll!
Falstaff
Super Member
Our main family car up until 1967 was a 58 white/green van that we drove literally across the US from South Carolina to California a couple times (once with 13 along for the ride) and then moved us to Scottsdale AZ in 1965. I remember "helping" my dad re-gapping the valves. No AC but lots of room. Eventually my dad sold it to some "hippies in 1969 who lived across the street. Last time I saw it it had peace signs and flowers painted on it. This is not our van but it was like this one.
I've always wanted to get another old VW as an around town car. A Beetle or maybe a square back. Been inspired by this guy who, while he works on any gas powered engine, he specializes in vintage VWs. He will take the rustiest looking VW engines and get them running again.
Mustie1 - YouTube
I've always wanted to get another old VW as an around town car. A Beetle or maybe a square back. Been inspired by this guy who, while he works on any gas powered engine, he specializes in vintage VWs. He will take the rustiest looking VW engines and get them running again.
Mustie1 - YouTube
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